Hand and foot operated swing

ABSTRACT

Ahand and foot operated swing including frame means connected to form a parallelogram and supporting a seat thereon, a front support member comprising part of the frame means and having hand grips and foot pedals of different heights thereon for enabling a rider to impart force to the hand grips and foot pedals to cause swinging movement to said swing.

United States Patent [151 3, Harms [451 Aug. 15, 1972 HAND AND FOOTOPERATED SWING 3,261,640 7/ 1966 Straits ..297/440 X [72] Inventor: EricF. Harms, Readlyn, Iowa FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [731 Asslgneei687,627 6/1964 Canada ..272/87 [22] Filed: March 13, 1970 487,36010/1952 Canada ..272/87 [21] Appl' 19329 Primary Examiner-Richard C.Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Theatrice Brown [52] US. Cl. ..272/87Attorney-Shoemaker & Mattare [51] Int. Cl. ..A63g 9/16 [58] Field ofSearch ..272/85, 87, 88, 89; 297/440, [57] ABSTRACT 297/444 Ahand andfoot operated swing including frame means connected to form aparallelogram and supporting a [56] References cued seat thereon, a fromsupport member comprising part UNITED STATES PATENTS of the frame meansand having hand grips and foot pedals of different heights thereon forenabling a rider 2,027,089 [/1936 Carraway ..272/87 to impart force tothe hand grips and f pedals to gaf cause swinging movement to saidswing.

2,533,482 12/1950 Liesner ..272/87 X 1 Claim, 3 Drawing FiguresPATENTEDAUG 15 1972 QWA FI.G. 3.

I INVENTOR ERIC F. HARMS ATTORNEYS HAND AND FOOT OPERATED SWINGBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a simple andeffective swing which is propelled by the pumping action of a personriding said swing and which affords at the same time an entertaining toyand a therapeutic device.

Prior art swings of this nature often are quite bulky and difficult forsome persons to propel. For example, in these devices a child or otherperson riding the swing must overcome the inertia of the combined weightof the swing and of the weight of the rider in order to propel the swingor to cause initial movement thereof. Such a device is shown, forexample, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,900,010 issued to R. J. Oliver. In thisswing the top and bottom frame members and 10 are horizontally disposedand are pivotally connected at the upper and lower ends, respectively,of the back frame member 12 and near the upper and lower ends,respectively, of the front frame member 11. The rider is seated on thetop frame member intermediate the ends thereof and in order to overcomethe inertia of the combined weight of the swing and the rider,substantial force must be exerted on the foot pedals and hand gripportions of the swing due to the particular manner in which the framemembers are interconnected.

In one embodiment of the present invention on the other hand, the topand bottom frame members are disposed at an angle to the horizontal withthe seat portion resting on the top frame member intermediate the endsthereof and accordingly supported at an angle to the horizontal. The topand bottom frame members are both pivotally connected at one end nearthe lower end of back support strap 2 and are both connected at theirother end near the middle of front support strap 1. With thisconstruction, a more beneficial mechanical advantage is afforded and theflexible chains or other suitable suspension means are disposed at aposition such as not to interfere with the rider.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to aself-propelled swing which is both an entertaining toy and a therapeuticdevice.

The swing includes a frame having top and bottom frame members inclinedto the horizontal and pivotally fixed at opposite ends to upstandingsupporting frame members to form a parallelogram and arranged such thata rider on the swing can easily manipulate the swing by exerting forceon the hand grip and foot pedal portions and yet is free of interferencewith the support means for the swing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top perspective view ofthe swing with the seat removed for clarity.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the swing.

FIG. 3 is a side view in elevation of the swing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawingswherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout theseveral views, a preferred embodiment of the swing comprises a frame Fincluding a front support strap 1 and a back support strap 2 of greaterlength than the front strap and normally suspended at a greaterelevation than the front strap.

A pair of bottom frame straps 3 and 4 are pivotally connected at one endthereof on opposite sides and at the lower end of the back support strap2 by means of a bolt or the like 5. The other ends of the bottom framestraps 3 and 4 are pivotally connected on opposite sides andintermediate the upper and lower ends of the front support strap 1 bymeans of a bolt or the like 6.

A pair of angle irons 7 and 8 arranged in back-toback relationship arepivotally connected at one end thereof on opposite sides of and spacedupwardly from the lower end of back support strap 2 by means of a boltor the like 9 and are pivotally connected at their opposite ends onopposite sides of and medially of the ends of front supporting strap 1by means of a bolt or the like 10, said bolts being passed through thevertically extending flanges of the angle irons with the other flange ofeach iron directed laterally outwardly from opposite sides of the swing.

A seat S formed of hard wood or the like is fixed medially of the endsand on the top surfaces of the laterally extending flanges 11 and 12 ofthe angle irons 7 and 8 by suitable means such as bolts 13 or the likepassed downwardly through the seat and between the confronting verticalflanges of the angle irons.

The swing is suspended for swinging movement by means of flexible chains14 or the like connected to the ends of elongated rods 15 and 16 or thelike received through holes adjacent the upper ends'of the front andback supporting straps l and 2, respectively, and welded therein toprevent undesired relative movement between the elongate rods 15 and 16and supporting straps l and 2. A suitable loop 17 or other attachingmeans is welded or otherwise fixed at each end of the elongate rods towhich the flexible chains or the like are connected for supporting theswing for swinging movement. The elongate rod 15 fixed to the frontsupporting strap 1 serves as a hand grip for the rider to grasp toprevent the rider from falling off the swing and to enable the rider toimpart propulsive force to the swing to propel the same.

A lower elongate rod 18 comprising a foot pedal is received through ahole adjacent the lower end of the front supporting strap 1 forreceiving the feet of an adult rider or the like and is welded orotherwise suitably fixed in position. A second elongate rod 19comprising a foot pedal for children or the like is received through ahole spaced upwardly from the lower end of front supporting strap forreceiving the feet of small children or the like and is similarly weldedin position.

By exerting force on the hand grip and foot pedal portions of the swing,the rider may impart motion thereto. As seen most clearly in FIG. 3, thetop and bottom frame members are inclined to the horizontal and arespaced relatively close together with respect to the length of the frontand back support straps thus affording a particular mechanicaladvantage. Of course, the seat and top and bottom frame members could behorizontally disposed if desired.

By way of specific example, the front supporting strap 1 is formed ofiron and is approximately 30 inches long, I lfi inches wide and A inchthick; the back supporting strap is formed of iron and is approximately36 inches long, 1 15 inches wide, and A inch thick; the bottom framestraps are formed of iron and are approximately 26 inches long, 1 inchwide and A inch thick and are pivotally connected at one end thereof tothe back supporting strap approximately 1 inch up from the lower endthereof and are pivotally connected at the other end thereof to thefront supporting strap 1 approximately 11 inches upwardly from thebottom end thereof, the pivotal connections being made by A inchdiameter bolts received through 9/16 inch diameter holes. As illustratedin FIG. 3, the bottom end of back supporting strap 2 is about 3 incheshigher in elevation than the bottom end of the front supportingstrap l.

The top frame angle irons 7 and 8 are spaced upwardly approximately 4inches from the bottom frame straps and are approximately 26 )6 incheslong, 1 'r inches wide and 4 inch thick.

The bottom foot pedal 18 is fixed to the front supporting strapapproximately 1 inch up from the bottom end thereof and comprises a rod12 inches long and 5/8 inch in diameter. The top foot pedal 19 is fixedto the front supporting strap approximately 6 inches up from the bottomend thereof and comprises a rod 8 inches long and A inch in diameter.

The elongate supporting rods and 16 at the upper ends of the supportingstraps l and 2 are approximately 20 inches long and 5/8 inch indiameter, and the seat S is formed of hard wood or other suitablematerials and is approximately 1 inch thick.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been described herein,it is not intended that the invention be limited to such details ofconstruction but that other and different constructions such as fallwithin the scope of the appended claims are intended to be covered aswell.

lclaim:

1. A self propelled swing comprising a vertical, flat, elongate,straight, rigid front support strap,

a similar vertical, elongate, flat, straight, rigid, back support strapspaced rearwardly of and at a higher elevation than the front supportstrap and parallel thereto,

an elongate, straight, swing support rod extending through each of thefront and back support straps closely adjacent the upper ends thereofand each fixed medially thereof to the support straps and extendinghorizontally considerably beyond opposite sides of each strap, the swingsupport rod on the front support strap defining a hand grip for the userof the swing,

an elongate flexible support means secured at each end of each swingsupport rod,

a pair of similar, rigid, straight, elongate, side-by-side aligned,angle irons comprising a seat frame, each angle iron including anintegral, flat, horizontal web and a vertical web and each with similaropposite end portions thereof pivotally connected to the front and backsupport straps, respectively, upwardly from the bottom end portions ofeach of the straps,

said pivotal connections in the front strap being considerably above thepivotal connections in the back strap, the angle irons thus beingpermanently considerably inclined upwardly from the back ta thefro tstaa e t fi ed on t he fla? webs of the inclined angle irons substantiallymedially of the length thereof,

a pair of similar, flat, rigid, bottom frame straps spaced closely belowthe angle irons in inclined, parallel relationship thereto,

the end portion of each rigid, flat, bottom frame strap in contact withopposite, adjacent side portions of each front and back supportstrap,.pivot means connecting the opposite end portions of the bottomframe straps to the front and back support straps, respectively, and

two vertically spaced apart, elongate, foot engaging means in a lowerportion of the from support strap below the bottom frame straps, thefoot engaging means projecting laterally beyond opposite sides of thebottom portions of the front support strap, thus providing footengagement by the user with either of the spaced apart, projecting footengaging means.

* t i i

1. A self propelled swing comprising a vertical, flat, elongate,straight, rigid front support strap, a similar vertical, elongate, flat,straight, rigid, back support strap spaced rearwardly of and at a higherelevation than the front support strap and parallel thereto, anelongate, straight, swing support rod extending through each of thefront and back support straps closely adjacent the upper ends thereofand each fixed medially thereof to the support straps and extendinghorizontally considerably beyond opposite sides of each strap, the swingsupport rod on the front support strap defining a hand grip for the userof the swing, an elongate flexible support means secured at each end ofeach swing support rod, a pair of similar, rigid, straight, elongate,side-by-side aligned, angle irons comprising a seat frame, each angleiron including an integral, flat, horizontal web and a vertical web andeach with similar opposite end portions thereof pivotally connected tothe front and back support straps, respectively, upwardly from thebottom end portions of each of the straps, said pivotal connections inthe front strap being considerably above the pivotal connections in theback strap, the angle irons thus being permanently considerably inclinedupwardly from the back strap to the front strap, a seat fixed on theflat webs of the inclined angle irons substantially medially of thelength thereof, a pair of similar, flat, rigid, bottom frame strapsspaced closely below the angle irons in inclined, parallel relationshipthereto, the end portion of each rigid, flat, bottom frame strap incontact with opposite, adjacent side portions of each front and backsupport strap, pivot means connecting the opposite end portions of thebottom frame straps to the front and back support straps, respectively,and two vertically spaced apart, elongate, foot engaging means in alower portion of the front support strap below the bottom frame straps,the foot engaging means projecting laterally beyond opposite sides ofthe bottom portions of the front support strap, thus providing footengagement by the user with either of the spaced apart, projecting footengaging means.